Pill counter



1966 c. G. SEWELL 3,

PILL COUNTER Filed July 24, 19

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United States Patent 3,290,488 PILL COUNTER Cyrus G. Sewell, Box 738,Sweetwater, Tex. Filed July 24, 1963, Ser. No. 297,342 Claims. (Cl.235-92) This invention primarily relates to a device for quickly andaccurately counting the components of a drug prescription.

The counter herein described completely eliminates the counting time infilling a prescription which calls for capsules or pills. Using themechanical separating means of this invention and a high speedelectronic counter the pills or capsules called for in any prescriptionof one hundred or less can be counted and separated before the druggistcan prepare a label for the container in which the capsules or pillswill be ultimately placed.

Accordingly, it is the primary object of this invention to disclose apill counting device into which a random batch of pills may beintroduced and which will perform the operation of counting andseparating a predetermined quantity of said pills in a matter ofseconds.

In order to accomplish the preceding object, an additional object ofthis invention resides in the provision of stationary pill aligningmeans for stringing said random batch of pills into single file androtatable pill spacing means operatively coperating with said pillaligning means for spacing said pills a predetermined distance apart insaid single file whereby a photoelectric type counter can be employed inthe invention.

A further object of this invention resides in the provision of amechanical maze with divergent geometry employed as a portion of thepill aligning means whereby the conformation of the random batch ofpills deposited in the device is controlled in such a way that they willroll out and line up due to the acceleration forces of gravity.

Yet another object of this invention resides in the specificconstruction of the pill spacing means which comprises a plurality ofstacked rotatable surfaces rotating at different speeds whereby thepills can be caused to fall from one surface to the next and due to thedifferent speeds of rotation of the surfaces will be effectively spacedfrom one another.

Still another object of this invention is found in the provision of anelectronically controlled gate mechanism responsive to the storage of apredetermined number of pulses emanating from the counter forsegregating a predetermined quantity of pills from the random batchintroduced into the device and further including means for recoveringall pills not so segregated by said gate mechanism.

Another object of this invention resides in the novel drive andtransmission means for accomplishing the aforementioned purposes.

A final object of this invention resides in its relative simplicity ofconstruction and ready adaptability for commercial production.

These together with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully herein-after described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view of the mechanism used in the presentinvention as seen with the top of the housing removed.

FIGURE 2 is across sectional view taken substantially along the planeindicated by the line 22 of FIGURE 2 with certain parts however shown inelevation for the purposes of description.

FIGURE 3 is a side view in elevation of the pill align- Patented Dec. 6,1966 ing and spacing mechanism used in the present invention.

FIGURE 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating the counting andsegregating operation of the device.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the mechanism for accomplishing thehereinbefore enumerated objects is housed within a housing generallyindicated by the numeral 10 which comprises a rectangular parallelopipedhaving an off-center aperture 12 for the introduction of a batch ofpills or capsules into the device to be counted and segregated. Thesepills are adapted to slide down a tubular cylinder 14 positioned at anangle of approximate- -1y 45 to a first rotating conical surface such as16. The entrance and exit from the cylinder 14- is cut at an angle tothe axis of the cylinder and more particularly in a plane parallel tothe top and bottom walls of the housing. This insures that the pillswill slide down the tube and not jam at the exit since the tube is cutin such a fashion as to have a larger area of opening than the verticalprojection of the exit.

A plurality of stacked rotating surfaces are supported within thehousing 10 and includes the first rotating conical surface 16, a conicalfrustum 18 comprising an intermediate rotating surface and a high speedwheel 20 comprising the last of said stacked rotating surf-aces. Thesurfaces 16, 18 and 20 rotate at increasing speeds in the order justenumerated. In order to accomplish this purpose, a suitable electricmotor such as 22 mounted upon a base plate 24 in the housing 10 isadapted to directly drive the high speed wheel 20 by means of a frictiondrive. A driving friction roller 26 mounted on the out put shaft of themotor 22 frictionally drives a friction wheel 28 carried by a bracket 30which is also mounted upon the base 24. The friction wheel 28 in turnimparts rotation to the high speed wheel 20 by contact with the innercircumference of the hollowed high speed wheel 20. This wheel is adaptedto rotate relative to a rotating spindle 32 defining the axis of thewheel 20. The wheel 2t) in turn is adapted to drive the spindle 32 at aslower relative speed through the intervention of a transmission means34 drivingly connecting the wheel to the spindle 32. The spindle 32 isdrivingly connected to the intermediate frustum 18 by means of asuitable clamping connection thereto as shown at 36. The spindle 32 istubular in cross-section and has telescoped therein another tubularspindle 38 which is adapted to rotate at still a slower speed than thespindle 32. The last named spindle is also driven by the high speedwheel 20 through the intervention of the transmission 34, and is rigidlysecured to the first rotating conical surface 16 by a threadedconnection as shown at 40. Telescopically mounted within the r-otatingspindle 38 is a stationary spindle 42 defining the axis of rotation ofthe first rotating cone 16 and the intermediate frustum 18 and properlyaligning said rotating components relative to the high speed 20.

The foregoing rotating surfaces serve to effectively space the pillsafter they have been formed in single file which is accomplished ashereinafter described. A stationary mechanical maze generally designatedby the numeral 44 may be suspended, for example, from the stationaryspindle 42 by means of an end cap 46 including a plurality of radiatingarms 48 and vertically oriented arms 50 attached thereto for supportingthe maze. The maze includes three arcuate portions 52, 54 and 56. Thefirst arcuate portion 52 is positioned co-terminus with the juncture ofthe cone 16 and the frustum 18 and substantially enshrouds the cone 16for approximately a third of its circumferential extent. Said portion 52terminates at one end adjacent the exit portion of the cylinder 14 andat its other end in a lateral stepped portion 58 connected to the secondarcuate portion 54 of the maze. This second portion is lower than thefirst arcuate portion 52 and encompasses a portion of the frustum 18 asshown 3 in FIGURE 2. The arcuate portion 54 in turn is connected bymeans of a lateral stepping portion 60 'to the third arcuate portion 56of the maze. Again, the latter portion 56 is lower than the precedingarcuate portion 54 and is co-terminus with the juncture of the frustumand the high speed wheel 28.

In the connection of the device, a batch of pills such as 62 isdeposited within the cylindrical tube 14. The pills slide down thecylinder 14 until they rest at the exit of the cylinder on the rotatingsurface of the cone 16. The pills are substantially confined by thefirst arcuate portion 52 of the maze. The cone 16 turns and slides thepills from the exit of the tube 14 to the first edge 64 of the mazebetween the first arcuate portion 52 and the lateral stepping portion58. The pills drop oh the first edge of the maze 64 and slide down thefrustum 18 until they hit the second arcuate portion 54 of the maze 44.Since the pills drop off the first edge 64 substantially one at a time,they will be aligned in single file along the second arcuate portion 54.Also, due to the fact that the frustum is rotating at a higher speedthan the cone 16 a slight spacing is induced in said file of pills. Toinsure that the pills line up in single file, a second edge or step 66between the arcuate portion 54 and the second lateral stepping portion60 is supplied whereby substantially all of the pills will be in asingle line along the arcuate portion 56. For pills with very lowcoefiiciency of friction, extra maze edges and conical portions withdifferential speeds can be provided to insure that the pills all line upin a single file. Finally, the pills positioned along the arcuateportion 56 of the maze drop off the edge or step 68 thereof onto thehigh speed wheel 20 wherein due to the greater speed of rotation of saidwheel, the pills are substantially strung out in a spaced single file.

The high speed wheel 20 conducts the pills through a light beam 70between a lamp 72 and a photo-cell 74. The leading edge of each of thepills initiates an electrical pulse which is registered in an electroniccounting device 76 which information is passed on to a binary logiccircuit 78 wherein it is stored. The counter and logic circuitry may behoused within a suitable container such as 80 mounted on the base plate24. Controls are also provided to sum any number of binaries, so thatany number of pills, limited by the number of binaries, can be preset.It should also be understood that the trailing edge of each pill alsogenerates an electrical pulse with opposite polarity to the leading edgethereby defining a characteristic Wave shape having finite dimensionswhich can be utilized by the logic circuitry. When the last pill of thepreset quantity is counted, the logic circuit is so biased that asilicon controlled rectifier can be fired by the pulse generated by thetrailing edge of the last counted pill to activate a suitable gatingmechanism 82 for segregating the requisite number of pills counted fromthe rest of the batch.

A pair of exit conduits 84 and 86 are positioned adjacent the peripheryof the high speed wheels to conduct counted pills to a suitablecollection receptacle through an opening 88 in the housing and conductuncounted pills of the batch to another collection receptacle throughthe aperture 90 also formed in the housing 10. The gate mechanismincludes a horizontal arm 92. normally positioned across the high speedwheel 20 which blocks the path of pills on said wheel and directs theprerequisite counted pills into the conduit 86 for collection throughthe aperture 88. The arm 92 is swingingly mounted so that it may bepositioned across the mouth of the conduit 86 after the predeterminednumber of pills have been collected whereby the remaining pills of saidbatch will pass through the conduit 84 and out the opening 90. The arm92 is mounted upon a vertical shaft 94 adapted to be rotated at a highrate of speed by a motor 98. Upon actuation of the motor 98, the shaft94 will swing the arm 92 to the position closing the entrance to theconduit 86. Current generated by the logic circuitry after the pre- 4determined pill count has been reached actuates motor 98 through contact102.

The quantity of pills to be counted may be set by a suitable switchassembly mounted upon the housing, which assembly will preset the binarylogic circuitry. Also, the circuitry may be reset and the gate mechanismrepositioned for another counting edge by any suitable means. Thetransmission 34 may also be provided with a speed change control toallow various rates of speed for the stacked rotating surfaces dependingupon the size of the pills to be counted or the number thereof.

The operation of the device should now be apparent. The random batch ofpills 62 are deposited in the entrance of the cylinder 14 and slid downuntil they rest at the exit thereof and contact the cone 16. As thiscone turns, the pills slide from the entrance of the cylinder 14 to thefirst edge or step 64 of the maze 44. The pills drop off the first stepof the maze and slide down the frustum 18 until they hit the arcuateportion 54 of the maze 44 wherein they are substantially aligned insingle file. A second step or edge 66 of the maze 44 is supplied as asafety factor to insure that the pills are in sin gle file line whenthey descend from the edge 68 of a third arcuate portion 56 of the maze44 to the high speed wheel 20. Due to the increasing speed of rotationof each of the stacked surfaces, the pills are suitably spaced in singlefile as they go past the light beam 70 wherein interruption of the beamwill produce a pulse which will cause a counter mechanism to send pulsesto a logic circuit to be stored. After a predetermined number of saidpulses have been stored in the logic circuit, said circuit will actuatean arm 92 to close the conduit 86 so that only a predetermined number ofsaid pills are collected at the opening 88 in the housing 10. The restof the pills in the batch 62 leave the mechanism through a conduit 84 inan opening 90 in the housing 10.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles ofthe invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction and operation shown anddescribed, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalentsmay be resorted to falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A device for counting a predetermined quantity of pills from a randombatch comprising housing means, stationary pill aligning means withinsaid housing means for stringing said random batch of pills into asingle file, rotatable pill spacing means in said housing meansoperatively cooperating with said pill aligning means for spacing "saidpills a predetermined distance apart in said single file, means forcounting the pills in said file and information storage meansoperatively connected to said counting means for electrically storing apredetermined number of counts, said pill spacing means including aplurality of stacked rotatable surfaces, each succeeding surface in thestack rotating at a greater speed than a preceding surface.

2. A device for counting and segregating a predetermined quantity ofpills from. a random batch comprising housing means, stationary pillaligning means within said housing means for stringing said random batchof pills into a single file, rotatable pill spacing means in saidhousing means operatively cooperating with said pill aligning means forspacing said pills a predetermined distance apart in said single file,means for counting the pills in said file, and information storage meansoperatively connected to said counting means for electrically storing apredetermined number of counts, said pill spacing means including aplurality of stacked rotatable surfaces, each succeeding surface in thestack rotating at a greater speed than a preceding surface, pilldelivery means entering into s id housing means for depositing therandom batch of pills upon the first surface in said stack, and pillsegregating means adjacent said last surface in the stack for dividingthe pills in said random batch into a group containing a number of pillscorresponding to the predetermined counts stored in said informationstorage means and a group containing all the other pills in said randombatch.

3. The device of claim 2, wherein said pill segregating means includesspaced pill collection means connecting said last stacked surface withaccessible portions of said housing means, swinging gate means normallyspanning the last stacked surface for directing pills into a first pillcollection means, said swinging gate means being retractable to aposition closing said first pill collection means and permitting pillsto pass thereby into a second pill collection means in response to asignal from said information storage means that a predetermined numberof counts have been received and stored.

4. The device of claim 1 wherein each succeeding stacked surface is of alarger diameter than a preceding surface, said stationary pill aligningmeans including a continuous maze having stepped portions positioned atthe edge of each preceding stacked surface, said steps permitting onlyone pill at a time to drop onto a succeeding one of said stackedsurfaces whereby the pills are aligned in single file.

5. The device of claim 4 wherein the first stacked surface comprises acone and the last stacked surface is a high speed wheel, each stackedsurface intermediate the first and last comprising a frustum of a conewhereby the pills are gravity propelled from the steps of the maze.

6. The device of claim 5 including drive means for rotating the lastsurface in the stack, transmission means mounted within said housingmeans operatively connected to each of said stacked surfaces for drivingall the stacked surfaces except the last at different speeds, saidtransmission means being driven by said last stacked surface.

7. The device of claim 3 wherein each succeeding stacked surface is of alarger diameter than a preceding surface, said stationary pill aligningmeans including a continuous maze having stepped portions positioned atthe edge of each preceding stacked surface, said steps permitting onlyone pill at a time to drop onto a succeeding one of said stackedsurfaces whereby the pills are aligned in single file.

8. The device of claim 7 wherein the first stacked surface comprises acone and the last stacked surface is a high speed wheel, each stackedsurface intermediate the first and last comprises a frustum of a conewhereby the pills are gravity propelled from the steps of the maze.

9. The device of claim 8 including drive means for rotating the lastsurface in the stack, transmission means mounted within said housingmeans operatively connected to each of said stacked surfaces for drivingall the stacked surfaces except the last at different speeds, saidtransmission means being driven by said last last stacked surface.

10. The device of claim 9 wherein said pill delivery means includes acylinder depending from the top of said housing means at an angle withrespect to the first stacked surface.

No references cited.

MAYNARD R. WILBUR, Primary Examiner. J. F. MILLER, Assistant Examiner.

1. A DEVICE FOR COUNTING A PREDETERMINED QUANTITY OF PILLS FROM A RANDOMBATCH COMPRISING HOUSING MEANS, STATIONARY PILL ALIGNING MEANS WITHINSAID HOUSING MEANS FOR STRINGING SAID RANDOM BATCH OF PILLS INTO ASINGLE FILE, ROTATABLE PILL SPACING MEANS IN SAID HOUSING MEANSOPERATIVELY COOPERATING WITH SAID PILL ALIGNING MEANS FOR SPACING SAIDPILLS A PREDETERMINED DISTANCE APART IN SAID SINGLE FILE, MEANS FORCOUNTING THE PILLS IN SAID FILE AND INFORMATION STORAGE MEANSOPERATIVELY CONNECTED TO SAID COUNTING MEANS FOR ELECTRICALLY STORING APREDETERMINED NUMBER OF COUNTS, SAID PILL SPACING MEANS INCLUDING APLURALITY OF STACKED ROTATABLE SURFACES, EACH SUCCEEDING SURFACE IN THESTACK ROTATING AT A GREATER SPEED THAN A PRECEDING SURFACE.